Iran Focus
London, 28 August – After being alerted by the vigilant researchers at the cybersecurity firm FireEye, Facebook, Google, and Twitter have deleted hundreds of accounts.
The FireEye team followed what looked to the untrained eye like unrelated threads for the last few month. They examined the phone numbers used by these accounts to sign up for Twitter, the emails they used to register domains, and the changes to their account names over time. The Iranian operation began to unravel.
Iran Focus
London, 28 August – Pro-Iranian governments and Hezbollah media outlets are gloating over the news that Donald Trump’s days in office may soon be ending, which reflects entirely how much of a threat he posed to their continued existence and how his policy on Iran constantly thwarted the mullahs.
Trump is going through a significant political crisis, but he has not yet been impeached or otherwise forced out of office. Therefore, any errant speculation by the media of a country or by officials themselves will not help these countries if Trump remains in power until the end of his first term.
Iran Focus
London, 27 August – Anyone using social media to incite people to “insult sanctities” or “damage public property” will be punished, warned Iranian Police Commander Hossein Ashtari when he spoke at a ceremony in Yazdel, in Isfahan Province. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Brigadier General said, “People behind social media call-ups should leave the illusion aside that people will follow them.”
“anyone who insults Islamic sanctities or any of the Great Prophets or [12] Shi’ite imams or the Holy Fatima shall be executed if the insult is considered saab ul-nabi (insulting Prophet Muhammad); otherwise, they shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment,” stipulates Article 513 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code. Iran’s security and intelligence forces have always aggressively confronted what they call “insulting sanctities” and “blasphemy” in speeches, essays, books, and media.
Iran Focus
London, 27 August – At the beginning of the month, Russia announced that it had convinced Iranian forces, including Hezbollah, in Syria to move back from the Israeli border and keep a distance of about 85 kilometres (53 miles), after an escalation of Israeli military strikes against the Iranian-led forces.
However, some are speculating that this retreat by the Iranians will be short-lived. They argue that this retreat is nothing more than a tactical manoeuvre by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in order to reduce tensions for a short period before it returns to the border, citing Iran’s previous consolidation in Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah has control.
Iran Focus
London, 27 August – Tech giant Google announced on Thursday that it had uncovered a “state-sponsored phishing attack” connected to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), which is the first time that the company found a direct link between the state-run media outlet and misinformation attacks from Iran.
A blog post from Google stated that a number of YouTube channels, blogs and Google+ accounts linked to the IRIB that had disguised their relationship whilst sharing English-language political content in the US had been “identified and terminated”.
Iran Focus
London, 27 August – On Saturday 25th October, an international assembly marking the 30th anniversary of the 1988 massacre in Iran was held in dozens of cities across the world. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, leader of the Iranian Resistance, spoke about the crime against humanity that saw more than 30,000 political prisoners executed during the summer of 1988.
Mrs. Rajavi spoke about the PMOI prisoners that were “ruthlessly sentenced to death” by Supreme Leader Khomenei for standing up for freedom and against the destruction of Iran. They were killed for their beliefs and described it as a catastrophe. This is what the regime is all about, she emphasised. Mrs. Rajavi pointed out that this has not changed and regime officials are still trying to cover up the massacre to this day. Three decades later the Resistance and the “forces of overthrow” in Iran are still working against the regime’s ideology.
Iran Focus
London, 25 August – Iranian interests in Syria are systematically being abandoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
John Bolton’s meeting with Israeli officials on Wednesday gives evidence to this. The US National Security Adviser claimed that Putin had told Trump “that he would be content to see Iranian forces all sent back to Iran.” Bolton added that Putin had offered the caveat, “I can’t do it myself.”
It seems that Putin’s interests in Syria are now increasingly divergent from those of Iran.
Iran Focus
London, 25 August – The threat of US sanctions is already beginning to affect the demand for crude from some of Iran’s key customers. According to preliminary tanker tracking data, oil exports from Iran have fallen steeply during the first half of August.
S&P Global Platts trade flow software’s initial estimates show that Iran oil crude and condensate exports have fallen to 1.68 million b/d in the first 16 days of August, which is down over 600,000 b/d from loadings in July.
Platts cFlow software estimates show that this compares with exports averaging 2.32 million b/d in July as a whole, and 2.10 million b/d in the first 16 days of August. These preliminary numbers show key buyers of Iranian oil are beginning to cut back before US sanctions against Iran’s oil sector go in to effect, sources said.
Iran Focus
London, 24 August – British Airways and Air France confirmed on Thursday that they would stop commercial flights to Iran from September for business reasons; mere months after US President Donald Trump announced he would re-impose sanctions on Tehran and the companies that continued to work there.
British Airways, which is owned by the Spanish-registered IAG, said that its London to Tehran service “is currently not commercially viable”, which is why they will halt the flight. The last BA flight from London to Tehran will be on September 22, while the last inbound flight from Tehran will be on September 23.
Iran Focus
London, 24 August – On Tuesday, at a ceremony in Tehran to mark Defense Industry Day, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) displayed what it claimed was its first domestically-designed and manufactured fighter jet.
While the unveiling garnered local media attention, observers have pointed out that the twin-seater Kowsar bears a striking resemblance to the F-5 designed by Northrop in the 1950s, which was used by US forces in the 1960s.
The event was attended by President Hassan Rouhani, defense minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami, and several other officials. Rouhani was photographed in the cockpit of the aircraft at the launch.
